While I was thus at Prayers, an old Woman, with her Hair about her Ears, and disfigur'd with a mournful Habit, coming in, disturb'd my Devotions; when taking hold of me, fhe drew me in a great Surprize out of the Entry; And what Hag, faid fhe, has devour'd your Manhood? Or what ominous Carcafs have you stumbled over in your Nightly Rambles ? You have not acquitted felf like a Man, but, like a wafhy Jade, have tir'd and founder'd upon the Road: Nor have you been content to fin by your felf, but you have alfo betray'd me into your Crime, and expos'd me as well as your felf, to the juft Refentment of the Gods; and do you imagine I will not be reveng'd? your When leading me, fubmiffive to all her Commands, a fecond Time to the Cell of a neigbouring Prieftefs of Priapus, the threw me upon the Bed, and taking up a Stick that fasten'd the Door, reveng'd herself on me. I with a great deal of Patience receiv'd her Fury; and at the firft Stroke, if the breaking of the Stick had not leffen'd the Force of the Blow, without Doubt she had broke my Head and Arm. I groan'd, and hiding my Face with my Hand, lean'd upon a Pillow, and burst into a Flood of Tears. The old Woman fate down by me, and wept as bitterly as my felf, complaining of the Miseries of Age, 'till the Priestess came in upon us; And what, faid the, do you do in my Chappel, as melancholy as as if you came from a Funeral? Don't you confider these are Holidays, in which even the Miferable ought to be merry? Alas! my Enothea, faid fhe, this Youth was born under an ill Star ; for not the greatest Beauty can raise him to, a perfect Appetite. You ne'er beheld a more unhappy Man In his Garden the weak Willow,. not the lufty Cedar, grows. In fhort, you may guess what he is, that couid rife unblefs'd from Circe's Bed. Upon this, Enothea fet herself between us, and moving her Head a while; I, faid fhe, am the only one that can give a Remedy for that Difeafe; and, not to delay it, let him fleep with me to Night, and next Morning examine how vigorous I fhall have made him. All Nature's Works my magick Pow'r obey, At my Commands, fubftantial Darkness foon Sol's fiery Carr ftopt on th' Etherial Plain, And Thetis long expects ber Lord in vain. I fhook with Fear at fuch a Romantick Promife, and began more intentively to view the old Woman: Uporwhich the cry'd out, O! Enothea, be as good as your Word; when, carefully wiping her Hands, fhe lay down on the Bel, and half fmother'd me with Kiffes. Enothea, in the Middle of the Altar, plac'd a Turf-Table, and laid upon it burning Coals, and an old crack'd Cup repair'd with Pitch, in which fhe us'd to facrifice. When she had fix'd it to the fmoaky Wall from which fhe took it, putting on her Habit, fhe plac'd a Kettle by the Fire, and took down a Q. Bag Bag that hung near her, in which a Bean was kept for the Ufe fhe now put it to, and a very aged Piece of a Hog's Forehead, with the Print of a hundred Cuts on't; when opening the Bag, fhe threw me a Part of the Bean, and bid me carefully ftrip it. I obey'd her Command, and try'd, without daubing my Fingers, to deliver the Grain from its nafty Covering; but fhe, blaming my Dullness, fnatch'd it from me, and fkilfully tearing its Shells with her Teeth, fpit the black Morfels from her, which lay like dead Flies on the Ground. How ingenious is Poverty, and what ftrange Arts will Hunger teach? The Prieftefs feem'd fo great a Lover of this Sort of Life, that her Humour appear❜d in every Thing about her, and her Hut might be truly term'd, Sacred to Poverty. No flaming Rubies here are fet in Gold, No |